Basic Investigation of Turbulent Structures and Blobs of Relevance for Magnetic Fusion Plasmas

Similarly to neutral fluids, plasmas often exhibit turbulent behavior. Turbulence in plasmas is usually more complex than in neutral fluids due to long range interactions via electric and magnetic fields, and kinetic effects. It gives rise to many interesting phenomena such as self-generated magnetic fields (dynamos), zonal-flows, transport barriers, or particle pinches. Plasma turbulence plays a crucial role for the success of nuclear fusion as a potentially clean, safe, and long-term source for electric power production. Turbulent processes in the edge and scrape-off layer (SOL) of magnetic fusion plasmas determine, to a large extent, the overall confinement properties. They also influence the life time of plasma facing components, impurity production and influx, main chamber recycling, tritium retention, and helium ash removal. Edge turbulence is often dominated by blobs or filaments, magnetic-field-aligned plasma structures observed in the edge of virtually all magnetized plasmas. This thesis investigates basic aspects of edge turbulence and blobs in simple magnetized toroidal TORPEX plasmas. TORPEX includes important ingredients of SOL physics, such as pressure gradients, "∇B" and curvature of the magnetic field, together with open field lines. A relatively simple magnetic geometry, full diagnostics access and the possibility of controlled parameter scans allow isolating and studying instabilities and turbulence effects that occur in more complicated forms in fusion and astrophysical plasmas. Using a number of optimized probe diagnostic methods, the mechanisms for the generation of blobs from ideal interchange waves and for their subsequent propagation are elucidated. A blob velocity scaling law is introduced that takes into account several damping effects of blob cross-field velocity. This scaling law is in good agreement both with blob simulations and experiments on TORPEX. Studies on blob parallel dynamics shed light on blob induced parallel currents and the transport of parallel momentum. Based on this understanding of blob motion, several tools to influence blobs and turbulence as a whole are developed. A methodology for plasma turbulence code validation is established. Using a large set of observables, the agreement between experiments and both 2D and global 3D two-fluid simulations is quantified

Convective cells and blob control in a simple magnetized plasma

Blob control by creating convective cells using biased electrodes is demonstrated in simple magnetized toroidal plasmas. A two-dimensional array of electrodes is installed on a metal limiter to obtain different biasing schemes. Detailed two-dimensional measurements across the magnetic field reveal the formation of a convective cell, which shows a high degree of uniformity along the magnetic field. Depending on the biasing scheme, radial and vertical blob velocities can be varied significantly. A high level of cross-field currents limits the achievable potential variations to values well below the applied bias voltage. Furthermore, the strongest potential variations are not induced along the biased flux tube, but at a position shifted in the direction of plasma flows

Convective cells and blob control in a simple magnetized torus

In view of controlling wall and divertor heat loads in magnetic fusion devices, we investigate the possibility of creating convective cells by means of biased electrodes for turbulence and blob control in the simple magnetized toroidal plasmas of TORPEX. A two-dimensional array of 24 electrodes is installed on a metal limiter to test different biasing schemes. This allows influencing significantly the frequency of the dominant mode as well as radial and vertical velocities of blobs. Detailed measurements along and across the magnetic field provide a rather clear picture of the effect of the biasing. The biased electrodes produce perturbations of the plasma potential and density profiles that are fairly uniform along the magnetic field. Background flows influence the location where potential variations are induced. The magnitude of the achievable potential variations in the plasma is strongly limited by cross-field currents. A quantitative discussion on the origin of these currents is presented

Review and perspectives of electrostatic turbulence and transport studies in the basic plasma physics device TORPEX

TORPEX is a basic plasma physics toroidal device located at the CRPP-EPFL in Lausanne. In TORPEX, a vertical magnetic field superposed on a toroidal field creates helicoidal field lines with both ends terminating on the torus vessel. We review recent advances in the understanding and control of electrostatic interchange turbulence, associated structures and their effect on suprathermal ions. These advances are obtained using high-resolution diagnostics of plasma parameters and wave fields throughout the whole device cross-section, fluid models and numerical simulations. Furthermore, we discuss future developments including the possibility of generating closed field line configurations with rotational transform using an internal toroidal wire carrying a current. This system will also allow the study of innovative fusion-relevant configurations, such as the snowflake divertor

Basic investigations of turbulence and interactions with plasma and suprathermal ions in the TORPEX device with open and closed field lines

TORPEX is a flexible device dedicated to investigating basic plasma physics phenomena of importance for fusion. It can feature a simple magnetized toroidal (SMT) configuration with a dominant toroidal magnetic field and a small vertical field component, or accommodate closed field-line configurations of increasing complexity. Among these are simple plasmas limited by the vessel on the low field side, single or double-null X-points, and even advanced divertor configurations like snowflakes. Using an extensive set of diagnostics, systematic studies of plasma instabilities, their development into turbulence and meso-scale structures, and their effects on both thermal and suprathermal plasma components are performed. The impact of the experimental results obtained on TORPEX is enlarged by their systematic application to model validation, performed using rigorous methodologies for quantitative experiment-theory comparisons. In the past two years, we conducted investigations of suprathermal ion-turbulence interaction on SMT plasmas. These investigations reveal that the transport of suprathermal ions is generally non-diffusive and can be super- or sub-diffusive depending on two parameters: the suprathermal ion energy normalized to the electric temperature and the electric potential fluctuations normalized to the electron temperature. The orbit averaging mechanism predicted to reduce the effect of turbulence on the suprathermal ions in burning plasmas has been clearly identified, both for gyro- and drift-orbits. To better mimic the SOL-edge magnetic geometry in tokamak, we have installed a current-carrying conductor suspended in the center of the chamber to produce magnetic configurations that creates closed-field line configurations. First experiments are devoted to the characterization of the background plasma and fluctuation features in the presence of quasi circular-shaped flux surfaces. Measurements of toroidal and poloidal wave numbers indicate field aligned modes. Further studies are under way to compare the experimental measurements with the simulation results and assess the main instability driving mechanism

Progressive steps towards global validated simulation of edge plasma turbulence

Simulations of edge turbulence are particularly challenging due to the presence of large amplitude fluctuations and to the coupling of equilibrium and fluctuating scales. While validating edge simulations is necessary to assess the accuracy of our understanding, difficulties in experimental diagnostics and the lack of a precise validation methodology have, to date, severely limited the process. The Global Braginskii Solver (GBS) code has been developed to simulate plasma turbulence in edge-relevant conditions [1]. We have initially studied relatively simple configurations of increasing complexity, linear magnetic configurations and the Simple Magnetized Torus. GBS has now reached the capabilities of performing non-linear self-consistent global three-dimensional simulations of the plasma dynamics in the Scrape-Off Layer (SOL). By solving the drift-reduced Braginskii equations, the code evolves self-consistently the plasma flux from the core, turbulent transport, and the plasma losses to the limiter plates. This gradual approach has allowed gaining a deep understanding of turbulence, from identifying the driving instabilities to estimating the turbulence saturation amplitude. In particular, we point out the need of global simulations to correctly represent the SOL dynamics, simultaneously describing both fluctuating and equilibrium quantities. A code validation development project has been conducted side by side with the GBS development [2]. A methodology to carry out experiment-simulation comparison had been established and applied to quantify the level of agreement between the GBS the TORPEX experiment. [1] P. Ricci et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 225002 (2008); P. Ricci and B. N. Rogers, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 145001 (2010); B. N. Rogers and P. Ricci, Phys. Rev. Lett. 104, 225002 (2010). [2] P. Ricci et al, Phys. Plasmas 16, 055703 (2009); P. Ricci et al., Phys. Plasmas 18, 032109 (2011)

Understanding and suppressing the near Scrape-Off Layer heat flux feature in inboard-limited plasmas in TCV

In inboard-limited plasmas, the Scrape-Off Layer (SOL) shows two regions: the near SOL, extending a few mm from the Last Closed Flux Surface (LCFS), characterized by a steep gradient of the parallel heat flux radial profile, and a far SOL, typically some cm wide, with flatter heat flux profiles. The physics of the near SOL is investigated in TCV with two series of experiments featuring deuterium and helium plasmas, in which the plasma current, density and elongation have been varied. The parallel heat flux profiles are measured on the limiter by means of infrared thermography. For the first time, the near SOL is reported to disappear for low plasma current or at high density, for values of the SOL collisionality νlowast corresponding to a conduction-limited regime. The power in the near SOL ∆PSOL is shown to decrease with the normalized Spitzer resistivity ν as ∆PSOL ~ ν−1. The floating potential profiles, measured at the limiter using flush-mounted Langmuir probes (LP), show the presence of non-ambipolar currents, and their relation to the presence of a velocity shear layer is discussed. The shearing rate is shown to strictly correlate with the power in the near SOL ∆PSOL, consistently with a recent theoretical model. Measurements of the near SOL on the Low Field Side (LFS) are performed using a reciprocating Langmuir probe (RP). The near SOL is reported to vanish simultaneously at the LFS and at the limiter. The near and far SOL widths are compared with the predictions from existing theoretical models, to which empirical corrections with resistivity and elongation are proposed